Pushkar Deshpande

What got you into collecting records? 
We are a music listening family. Music listening was an essential part of our upbringing and that was distinct from learning/ performing musical art.
We had a working record changer upto as recently as 1997 but with the advent of cds and mp3s this was scrapped not knowing the true value of the equipment. Luckily though my dads collection of records (all Indian classical) was preserved and I was always keen to spin them back to life.
I am myself an audiophile and I had elaborate plans for a good audiophile set up with or without a record player. But after purchasing a turntable from The Revolver Club in 2017 and having been completely knocked off my feet by the sound quality of vinyl records, I figured I do not need any other source of music and this is now my primary source of music. Thus began my collection of vinyl records.
Do you think pursuit of vinyl is a hobby for men?
The pursuit of vinyl is a hobby for only worthy men/ women as it involves a fair amount of hard work to find better sounding records and one needs to have a decent enough system to extract the full potential of the record. Most importantly one needs to understand why and what makes vinyl special over other formats of music despite the physical ‘inconvenience’ of having to change the record. Without any of the above factors, this hobby would be unjustified.
Is collecting vinyl an expensive hobby?
Collecting vinyl sure is expensive because it isn’t available as easily in the market due to lack of demand. Moreover, the better vinyl records are often sold at a high mark up. And this could also be true because most of the records are imported in India. Even used records are sold at astronomical prices due to their rarity and monopoly. I often pick up vinyl records from abroad and I am hoping their acceptance in India will happen sooner than later.
Does music on vinyl sound better than any other format?
I was surprised to find that vinyl sounded much better than any other music source and the difference was that great. I have experimented with Hi Res digital formats as well and given the challenges in Hi Res listening I would still recommend vinyl records as an important format for critical music listening. Having said that, there are some poorly printed records on the market which may not sound as good was the others.

How often do you listen to vinyl?
My work keeps me away from home six months a year. But when I am at home, I listen to an average of 2/3 vinyl records a day. Weekends and special occasions are different.


How large is your vinyl collection and which is the most valuable record in your collection?
I currently own something like 100 vinyl records and manage to add a couple of titles each month. My family knows that the best gift to me on any special occasion is a vinyl record and those records are always special. I also buy a vinyl record from each of the cities I visit whenever I can in lieu of a souvenir so many of my records are special in a different kind of a way. However, musically, I do own some gems from my fathers collection and one of them is Pt Bhimsen Joshi (Raga Malkhauns/ Marubihag). This despite the fact that my current music choice is Jazz/ Blues/ Rock. The two records from my own collection that I am proud to own are Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd) and Bitches Brew (Miles Davis); both TRC aquisitions.
Tell us about your turntable setup.
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut Carbon, Nagaoka MP110 cartridge
Bluetooth DAC: Mass Fidelity Relay
iPod DAC: Pro-Ject
Stereo Amp: NAD 316BEE
Speakers: B&W 684s Floor Standers